On the Ist of January the new Act came into force prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, unless contained in sealed vessels, to children under fourteen years of age. As may be imagined, in spite of all tue controversy that has raged round the Act, and in spite of the fact that notices of its provisions have been posted up in every public-house in the country, the public-house customers who had never heard of it might be counted by the thousands, and hundreds of families had to go without their supper beer on New Year's night because the children returned at closing time with empty jugs. The liconsed victuallers have been discussing everywhere the question of sealed vessels, and various ingenious receptacles fit for daily use have been suggested. No common form has, horrever, vet been dacited unau. Deuttless the Act will work some good in preventing the cultivation of an early taste for drink; but there are still many who think that the good it will do will be quite incommensurate with the inconvenience it will cause to the mothers of families. It is true that the invention of a suitable sealed vessel will remove this, inconvenience, but it will also tend to increase the familiarity of children with the insides of public houses—thouch it is true they will not be able to take surreptitious sips of father's beer.
Lord Rosslyn and His " Sy: tem."
Having made away with the greater part of his patrimony, and having failed to achieve distinction as an actor or an author, the Bari of Rosslyn has invented a "system" of winning at rouge et noir. Ho now ondeavourine to break the bank at, Monte Carlo, and the astute managers of that great gambling establishment have taken care that reports of his "success" shall circulate throughout the civilised world. It was announced some weeks ago that the noble Earl was in search of cay talists to finance his "system but what. success he obtained I do not know. Tt is extraordinary how persistent the superstition that it is possible to invent a "system" which will give its worker advantage in a game of chance in which the chances are obviously in favour of the "bank." Mathematicians have proved again and again the impossibility of such a system, perhaps the clearest exposition the roof being that eiven by the late Mr. Richard Proctor in his book on "Chance and Trek" Rut the cnnerstition is as persistent as the belief in the possibility of perpetual motion.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.